t the helm, posting himself in the bows, inspecting the
water, whilst he held the halliard in his hand, ready to lower the
sail at a moment's notice. Gideon Spilett with his glass eagerly
scanned the shore, though without perceiving anything.

However at about twelve o'clock the keel of the _Bonadventure_ grated
on the bottom. The anchor was let go, the sails furled, and the crew
of the little vessel landed.

And there was no reason to doubt that this was Tabor Island, since
according to the most recent charts there was no island in this part
of the Pacific between New Zealand and the American coast.

The vessel was securely moored, so that there should be no danger of
her being carried away by the receding tide; then Pencroft and his
companions, well armed, ascended the shore, so as to gain an elevation
of about two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet which rose at a
distance of half a mile.

"From the summit of that hill," said Spilett, "we can no doubt obtain
a complete view of the island, which will greatly facilitate our
search."

"So as to do here," replied Herbert, "that which Captain Harding did
the very first thing on Lincoln Island, by climbing Mount Franklin."

"Exactly so," answered the reporter; "and it is the best plan of
proceeding."

Whilst thus talking the explorers had advanced along a clearing which
terminated at the foot of the hill. Flocks of rock-pigeons and
sea-swallows, similar to those of Lincoln Island, fluttered around
them. Under the woods which skirted the glade on the left they could
hear the bushes rustling and see the grass waving, which indicated the
presence of timid animals, but still nothing to show that the island
was inhabited.

Arrived at the foot of the hill, Pencroft, Spilett, and Herbert
climbed it in a few minutes, and gazed anxiously round the horizon.

[Illustration: NEARING THE ISLAND]

They were on an islet which did not measure more than six miles in
circumference, its shape not much bordered by capes or promontories,
bays or creeks, being a lengthened oval. All around, the lonely sea
extended to the limits of the horizon. No land nor even a sail was in
sight.

This woody islet did not offer the varied aspects of Lincoln Island,
arid and wild in one part, but fertile and rich in the other. On the
contrary this was a uniform mass of verdure, out of which rose two or
three hills of no great height. Obliquely to the oval of the island
ran a stream through a